


Rule of Three

by dethharmonic



Category: Control (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Other, Pining, Reader-Insert, gender-neutral reader?, my tender heart longs for more Darling content so badly I gotta make some
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-02-25 14:40:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22297606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dethharmonic/pseuds/dethharmonic
Summary: Somehow, someway, you've stumbled into the life of the Bureau. And once you saw him, you were super fine with it (you know, aside from all the horrible things in this building.)
Relationships: Casper Darling/Reader, Dr. Casper Darling/Reader
Comments: 18
Kudos: 49





	1. in which a crush is formed

**Author's Note:**

> DFAB reader, thought it doesn't matter to much right now. This is the first thing I've written in literal years. please be kind u_u

You got this job on accident. A wild concept, honestly. One Thursday morning you walked into the lobby of a frankly incredibly terrifying building to ask for directions, only to be met with wild enthusiasm. You'd only been in town a few weeks, moving downstate to follow your dreams? or something. That's what you told yourself, at least, when you realized your meager savings would last you far less than you initially thought. Setting up interviews was shockingly easy, plenty of spots available in this huge city, it was finding the places that was causing you problems.  
  
This time you were attempting to find a small café, hoping that third time was the charm as you were instantly getting sick of job hunting. Going around the block got you no results other than a new blister on your heel, so you swallowed your pride and looked to the closest place to seek help. With a jolt your eyes landed on the Bureau. It seemed to pop into existence out of nowhere, but obviously it was there the whole time you were just busy. When you stepped inside, the receptionist lazily raised his eyes to meet the source of the new sound and instantly bolted out of his seat when registering you. Not even to the desk yet he belted out a strained "How may I help you!"  
  
"I, uh sorry, I have a intervi-"  
  
"Oh! That explains it!" Rude. But he seemed to relax as he picked up the receiver of his phone, jamming it in the crook of his neck as he handed you a thin binder. "Sign and date this sheet," he pointed to the left page with a pen and motioned to the right swiftly "and then read this **carefully**. What department are you going into?"  
  
You looked at him, barely having time to take the pen before he dropped his grip. Jolts of panic were already coursing through you and you hugged the binder to your chest. You went to explain that the interview was not for this place, (You didn’t even know what they did here!), but he was too focused on his conversation on the phone so you shrugged in defeat and did as he asked. Maybe this place has more benefits, you mused, and you still had an hour or so to kill until your actual interview. The handing over of your belongings, minus your neatly typed resume clutched in your fist, set you on edge. Maybe you we're in over your head here, was this a state office? Wouldn't they have asked for a little more clearance before letting you into the vast building? At the interior security office a sharply dressed woman was waiting, her warm smile towards you faltered a bit as she glanced at her paperwork though. Obviously not on her file, you introduced yourself with a handshake (god how you hated handshakes) before setting into the explanation of how her time had been wasted.  
  
"I think there has been a series of misunderstandings, I am so sorry. I tried to tell the guy at the desk that I was looking for directions to an interview I had and he just rushed me on in before I knew it. And then I didn't want to be rude at that point and it snowballed." You gave a nervous laugh as your hand came up to fidget with your necklace. She looked nice, at least maybe you can get directions from her? "I'm looking for a café near here, actually."  
  
"Ah." She said simply, quickly followed by an tired sigh. Her fist rested gently against her lips as she looked to be hatching a thought. "We rarely get people waltzing in, more of an outside recruitment thing you see. Just for giggles could I see your resume?" She motioned for the papers and you quickly set them in her hand. What could it hurt?  
  
Honestly if it wasn't for the help of your local employment office those papers would be a mess. You've bounced around from retail to clerical work to food service and back around again. The longest jobs being at your local college in the research library, and at the only diner in your hometown. They were the only places to not completely burn you out, and shockingly you enjoyed them in the moment. Instead of a jumbled mess of job hopping it played off how well rounded you were. At least that’s what you told yourself every time you submitted it somewhere. Somehow that must be how it looked to her, as she finished up reading and her warm smile returned. "So, I understand this is a more unorthodox job proposition but we are in desperate need of someone with a good head in our cafeteria. I was actually expecting someone for this role today but they didn't show. Based on your history, I also see opportunities for cross training in other departments if you should pursue it. Obviously we would still need to go through background checks and all that, but I'd like to think I have a good eye for people." She finished with a wink. All you could do was nod in response.   
  
She walked you to the nicely sized cafeteria and told you about the job details and benefits ( _BENEFITS_ ). You were overwhelmed to say the least, head in a fog as she spoke. You snapped out of it when you realized you had been accidentally staring at a man in a labcoat about two feet in front of you while the nice HR lady was speaking to someone near the back of the room. He thankfully hadn't noticed your gaze as he was too focused on the objects in his hands, one a banana and the other a simple white bag labeled 'CHIPS'. What kind of a brand was that, you wondered as he flipped the bag over to look at the back. His very nice face was twisted into an intense frown. "You should get them both!" you mock whispered at him, and a laugh escaped you when his head whipped up to you.   
  
"Did I really look that miserable?" he sheepishly said, shifting both items to one hand. You nodded, actually looking at him in full now that your brain has snapped back into reality. You briefly thought you wouldn't mind this job at all if everyone looked like him.   
  
"I'm a terrible enabler and hey, chips are a vegetable!" You deeply enjoyed the goofy smile that lit up his face when you spoke. He glanced at the guest pass clipped to your shirt and you offered your name. In response he made no moves towards an introductory handshake but a small part of you wished he did.  
  
"I'm Dr. Casper Darling, great to meet you. And I think I'll take your advice," he lifted his snacks up and made to leave, "Be seeing you?" You nodded and let out a small 'I hope' as he moved to the cashier. By the time he left the HR woman (you truly are horrible with names) was at your side again. She led you back the way you came and handed a small but thick packet to you. You thanked her, gathered your belongings, and rushed out the door. You were on the sidewalk staring up at the building for a minute before you quietly cursed to yourself, you never got directions.   
  
Eventually you made it to the café after asking a few locals, but all you could think of was that place. It hardly seemed real. _Oh god what if I got ran over, I'm in a coma right now. Who even offers a full time job to someone who stumbled in off the street? And that guy? Darling??_ His smile flashed in your brain again, he was almost too much. Definitely in a coma. The interview went well but you were definitely phoning it in, mind still caught up in what happened earlier. On your way home you stopped for a moment to look in the direction of the building. You could still see it taking up so much of the skyline and you wondered why you just never seemed to notice it before. When you got home the weight of the day finally bust the dam of exhaustion and you dramatically crashed onto your bed. After spending a few minutes face down, fully dressed and bag still on your shoulder, you had enough energy to roll over and kick off your shoes. How had you even let that situation get so far that you got a weird interview out of it? You tended to just do what people said, it took all you had just to move here to escape that. It takes more than a change of scenery to change a lifetime of that though. After getting comfy for the night you pulled out the packet that was given to you, a small business card falling out with contact information for the woman you spoke with that you set on your nightstand. You fell asleep with it resting on your chest, wondering what the hell they did there with would require so many regulations for employees. 

It was a tense few days but at 6am Monday morning your phone was going off next to your head and you answered it so quickly you managed to knock yourself in the face. After the brief conversation you had a job at the Bureau and agreed to come in that day for a quick orientation. The anxiety rushing through you was almost overwhelming as you sat in your bed, phone in hand. You looked down to see you had a text from yesterday, a former coworker asking why the hell some place just called them asking a ton of questions about you. Weird, but you didn't want to deal with that right now. That’s a problem for later you. Running your hand through your hair, you sighed and began the intricate ritual that was getting your ass ready to leave the apartment. Coffee, shower, oh no where are my nice pants these ones have a rip in them, more coffee, sad breakfast consisting of twelve grapes and an energy bar. In no time you were in a blank room filling out paperwork, nodding along to everything the nice lady said. You passed all background tests ( _tests?_ You wondered), and began the debriefing. This wasn't a government agency per se, but what occurred here did not leave the building. This was all Very Wild for a simple job giving food to people, you thought for a moment. A while later they had you already to work, a sturdy apron over your attempt at a professional outfit and a shiny new nametag clipped to the top. You picked up everything pretty quickly, stumbling over small things that your new coworkers helped you through. This cafeteria was one of many, each department having their own small rest area. You were situated in the research department which you were told was one of the nicer ones, there was even a break room in the back storage area with some dangerously comfy chairs.   
  
During your lunch break you chose to sit in the dining area, gazing out to take in your new workplace. How they got a whole ass tree in here was beyond you but it looked amazing. You were too busy dividing your lunch into thirds (and then dividing those bits into thirds, it was a process) to notice Darling was walking up to you. You jumped in your seat when he started talking. "Glad to see you’re a new member of the team! Nametag and everything!" You quickly stopped what you were doing, embarrassed by him seeing your weird stress eating pattern, and smiled up at him.   
  
"Yep, it all seems like a dream honestly." You laughed and set down your fork.   
  
"A nice one I hope. Whats going on with your fries there?" he gestured the water bottle in one hand towards your piles as he bit into a candy bar in his other hand.  
  
"Oh its stupid, its just what I do when I'm a little stressed. I like the number three so if I do this when I eat I seem to relax. I don't even know why beyond that." He perked up when you said that, and pulled out a chair to sit.  
  
"Actually that’s a thing! A ritual! Many people don't know why they do them or even notice that they are doing them. Certain numbers hold more meaning than others, a lot of rituals follow the rule of three. Three knocks on a door, third times the charm, that thing with usb dongles where they only let you insert them on the third try." You ate a pile as he talked, you somehow turned his teaching mode on but you were absolutely fine with that as long as you got to hear his voice. "Oh that reminds me if you see any light cords hanging around where they weren't before, try not to touch them. Get a lot of problems with new hires that way, lately." He let out a laugh at seeing your confused expression but didn't elaborate further. As quickly as he sat down, he popped back up and reached to squeeze your shoulder. "You're gonna love it here."  
  
"So far so good," you choked out before he turned to leave. He gave a small wave that you returned as he exited, and swiftly turned your head to your food. You hoped he hadn't noticed how red your face had turned when you reached out to you, but you were sure that he had. _Oh no._


	2. often I sit and yearn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its super not recommended to develop feelings for your coworker. Especially when your workplace is a constant danger zone. :)

After a few months you learned that this place had its pros and cons, much like any workplace. One of the worst cons was no phone to entertain you on your breaks, a pro was that central research had very pretty things in it. You were mostly referring to the fantastic combination of organic and architecture, the plant life breaking up harsh shapes all around you. Mostly. At least once during your shift you caught a glimpse of Dr. Darling, pushed out of his work by assistants so he would get some food (and they would get a brief reprieve from him). You were comfortable acquaintances. Well, as comfortable as you could be with a foolish crush that you couldn't seem to shake. You savored the small moments of touch. Usually it was his hand brushing yours to hand his payment card over, a jolt of electricity running through your body that started at your fingertips and made your heart flutter. Occasionally you would be cleaning a table and he'd lightly bump your arm to get your attention. Sometimes he would be so amped up about an experiment he would come bounding into the cafeteria , grabbing food in one hand and gesturing wildly with the other as he talked. These times he would squeeze your shoulder before he left, glad he could let out a little energy to an open ear. You would watch him scramble back up the stairs, ungracefully attempting to eat and walk, until he disappeared from view. By the time he was gone from your sight your heart managed to stop beating so loudly in your ears. 

You had taken to bringing a small sketchbook with you for your lunches, to pass time after you ate. Your favorite thing to do was sit and sketch the plant life and do quick gesture drawings of various Bureau workers. Once and a while you got detailed but felt like a creep drawing people without their knowledge. It was one of the detailed times that Darling had come to the cafeteria. You were sketching out a small portrait of Emily Pope when he quietly wandered over, the curiosity of what you were drawing winning over his growling stomach. He watched in silence for a moment before belting out a "Neat!" which in turn caused you to jump in your seat hard enough to nearly topple over. 

"Oh god, I am far too easily frightened to be working in a place like this." you said dramatically with your hand to your chest. He chuckled in response and motioned to the plant sketches.   
  
"Seriously, these are nice. Actually gives me an idea for the altered items we can't photograph that I'm embarrassed I've never thought of before. Just too busy to think sometimes, I guess!" He scratched at his temple before continuing his train of thought. You noticed the dark circles under his eyes, probably another day where he decided Science™ was more important than resting. "Would you be interested in working a few days a week in my lab doing sketches to accompany my notes?"  
  
"Oh wow, are you sure? I mean I do have some experience with like, paperwork and uhhh stuff." Smooth. Very impressive vocabulary you're showing him today. He gave you an enthusiastic nod, clearly excited. "Of course then, that would be amazing! I can stop in tomorrow if you'd like?"  
  
"Fantastic. Tomorrow, then." He gave two thumbs up and backed away, holding his fists up until he violently met a table with his hip. Definitely needs rest.   
  
It wasn't until you were in bed that night that the situation of what you agreed to fully hit you. You'd only just barely held back the floodgates of how you felt and now you'll be working for him (with him?) and its going to be weird. You're going to somehow make this weird. The brief visit every day was perfect so far, just enough for a small taste without you saying or doing anything off-putting. Turning to your side to glance at your clock you did the mental math of how many hours of sleep you'd get at this point, not a ton but oh well. What's the worst that could happen tomorrow? Turns out the worst that could happen is getting nearly killed by a small porcelain clown doll. Early in the morning, almost too early you worried, you knocked softly on his office door. 

You were to illustrate items that did very mundane things to start you off, today being a hand sized clown doll. The little guy had a silk jumpsuit and a matching tiny hat upon its feather hair. You stared at his serene expression before blurting out "I love this clown…..like genuinely love it." You looked next to you and grabbed Darling's arm. "Should I be concerned about this?" a mild panic to your voice. He chuckled and rested his hand on yours, which would have set off a whole spiraling thing of emotions in your head if you weren't frightened about being as fond of this mini mime as much as your childhood cat. 

"To our knowledge that’s about all this little guy can do. Just generate a strong emotional connection when you look at that tiny bod. Body." He turned to the side so the clown was out of his sight and coughed before continuing. "That and the reason you are here, when we attempt to film it in any way it appears to be floating just out of frame despite being perfectly still to any other observer."

"That’s real inconvenient."

"I know, right?! Such a delight though." He let out a small adoring sigh which caused you to glance over at him, he had turned back to face you but also the clown. "I will warn you to not handle the item without gloves, as it seems like the effects are amplified quite a bit with skin contact." You nodded and sat down, getting your supplies in order before starting a series of quick sketches. Satisfied, he squeezed your shoulder before heading to his desk to work on some other science thing. Once again it took about ten minutes for your heart to stop thumping painfully hard.

Okay so its not entirely fair to blame the clown, sure it has a pull on anyone who looks at it for more than five seconds but it was your coworker that hit you in the head with a lamp. "You've been bogarting time with my sweet baby boy!" is what he screamed as security dragged him out of the lab. They had been testing how strong the bond could grow to in various contexts, yesterday he had agreed to hold that sweet clown doll for his nine hour shift and had to be sedated to relinquish it. Claiming he was 'all good' and 'totally cool' this morning until you began cataloging the doll. (After being told this, you were beginning to seriously be concerned with the security measures they had at times.) This being your first day in the lab you were unaware that he was acting off until you moved to turn the clown's containment to the side. Darling yelled in time for you to save your face from getting hit, the heavy magnifying lamp striking you on the back of the head instead. The force knocked you off your stool, saving you from yet another blow while you swore and clutched at your wound. He was quickly held down by a few others as Darling ran to you in a panic. Ever so gently his hand cradled your face while he assessed the damage, a towel appearing to blot up the mess. His look softened and he held the towel to your head, satisfied your brain wasn’t coming out or something. He sat fully, waiting for a medical employee you figured, and leaned you against his legs so you weren't so uncomfortable. Still his hand rested along your jaw, you were too much in pain to focus on if it was necessary or if he just wanted to.

"You know I would enjoy this much more if I wasn't bleeding quite so much." you blurted out, looking up at him as he hunched over you. 

"We try to limit lamp related injuries to at least the second day." He let out a small laugh and his thumb moved across your cheek, sitting in silence until someone in white kneeled down to take over your cut. 

It wasn't too bad, more blood than wound as tends to be with head injuries. You got a few stitches, a pill, and an order to go home for the day once they determined you didn't have a concussion. The chaos of the morning was all but forgotten when you came back into the lab to gather your things. You noted that the clown was no longer on the table while you packed your small bag. Turning to leave you nearly slammed into Dr. Darling as he was heading in your direction.  
  
"Oh good I was hoping to catch you before you left. I hope today doesn't put you off of working up here. I'm truly sorry, sometimes I don't take experiments as seriously as I should." He sighed deeply and rested his heavily gloved hand on yours. The maroon rubber gloves went all the way up his arms and the care he was showing was touching but they instantly demolished all train of thought you had. 

"Accidents happen. Also gloves. What is with your gloves, my god." You had to suppress a chuckle when he took his hand back and the gloves in turn let out a audible squeak. 

"You like them?" He said with a grin and did a little spirit finger waggle in your direction. "I moved our little clown friend to a secure area and these are the safest option. No room for error in these bad boys!" While leading you to the door he pulled them off with some effort and lightly touched your arm. "Rest up, its not easy stealing people away for my department you know." The lightness of his voice showed he was really trying to put you at ease but his eyes were worried. The weight of your short day had fully hit you and you were glad to go home and process events, possibly even have a small meltdown, and eat some pizza rolls.

A few days later Darling came running into the lab with a look of panic on his face. His hands swiftly grabbed either side of your head and he studied you for a moment. Before you could say anything one hand was in his coat to retrieve a pen light and he gripped open each of your eyes, shining the small light in both. "Wh-"your words were cut off as he pried open your mouth and shined the light inside. Frustrated, he sighed and pushed your tongue down with his fingers so he could better see. This in turn alarmed you so much you grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked, not hard but enough to make him finally realize he murdered your personal space without a single word of explanation. He sheepishly removed his hands from you and on turn you ceased your grip on him. "What the HELL?"

"Just looking for scorpions!" He quickly breathed out and did a little half jog to the table next to yours, grabbing up a glass dish full of hard candies before heading to the door and running out.

"What." you flatly said to the door. Your breathing was heavy and face hot, if you weren't so confused as to what just happened you would have almost been concerned at your response. Darling came back an hour later, his hair still a mess from your encounter and tie undone. 

"The candy dish was an altered item that we got in yesterday. Apparently one of the interns thought I had set it out for sampling and ate a butterscotch that filled his body with scorpions. In what dimension would I share a butterscotch with anyone? So uh...sorry about all that." He rubbed the side of his neck and grimaced your way. "Just wanted to make sure you were alright."

"It's okay, I was just super baffled. Next time you stick your fingers in my mouth you should explain beforehand." you stiffened once you comprehended what you just said and quickly attempted a save with "Uhh anyone's mouth. I mean."

"Noted." You watched him head over to his notes and bury his very red face in a book. Good talk. Hope that scorpion thing worked out okay.   
  
Time went on like this with you being too busy and too timid to do anything other than make goo eyes at Darling when he was occupied. Before you knew it, your one year work anniversary had come up and you were given a tiny cake by your fellow lab folk. There wasn't enough to share with everyone so you felt it'd be less rude to just take home and demolish it, the knowledge of future cake powering you though your shift. Darling did indeed steal you away despite the desperate pleas of the cafeteria, and though you weren't able to fully understand some of the projects you helped as much as possible. Like most days as of late the work went long and after setting himself on fire twice in a span of six minutes Casper decided it was time to give up and head home. It only took you nagging him about his personal safety to finally get him to do so though. After a brief clean up you both left for the night, the miniature celebration cake firmly clutched in your hands. About a third of the way into your trek to the outside world, a faint rumbling began in the area causing Darling to pause midstep and look around in alarm. The building was shifting around you and being real rude about it to be honest, sealing both ends of the hallway before making a dizzying spiral of the left wall. Quickly he made his way to each end of the shortened hallway, hoping for any sign of an exit while you stood there In a silent panic. He returned to your side and simply frowned at the new wall-cave.

"Its recommended to stay in one spot when caught in building shifts but at least it could have been somewhere with CHAIRS." He kicked hard at the wall before turning to you. "It should sort itself out in the morning, but I'm sorry you had to get caught up in it. Some thanks for staying late, right!" He sighed into his hand as he rubbed at his face, the many days of poor rest showing heavily in his expression.  
  
"Hey its fine, I'm with my favorite work pal." You let out a nervous chuckle and made your way to sit on the ground. Lifting up your prized cake you continued, "At least we have dinner! Though the only utensil I have in my purse are some pairs of chopsticks, which I have yet to test on cake."  
  
"We are scientists after all," he responded with a mock seriousness as you pulled out the wooden utensils and a pack of tissues. Darling slid down the wall and connected with the floor with a soft thud. "How many things do you have in there?"

"At least three things, maybe more. Who knows!" You handed him a set and made your first attempt at grabbing a chunk of cake. Luckily you didn't make an immediate mess so you celebrated your enormous victory with another piece. "You gotta be prepared! For getting locked up in a hallway. You know, the usual." You looked up to see that Darling was not having as much luck as you in not making a mess, currently attempting to wipe frosting off of his face. "I like how you're bad at some things so spectacularly to make up for how good you are at everything else."  
  
"Why do you wound me so?" He still had frosting along his jaw that somehow he missed (how did he even manage to get it there anyways) so you moved to wipe it with your thumb. You paused as your skin made contact with his face realizing that he might find the action inappropriate, but at that point you couldn’t backtrack and he had stolen the package of tissues, so you brought your thumb to your mouth to clean off the frosting. Your brain took a break from its internal screaming when he let out a soft "Thanks."   
  
"Anytime!" Yes, a very good and normal interaction between two pals.  
  
You both continued the demolition of the mini confectionary in silence, at its end you were sheepishly handed the last tissue from your package. After cleaning up the remains you settled against the wall as well, shivering slightly. The heating in the Bureau was okay at best but the heavy concrete was quickly losing heat from being locked away from the normal venting system. Noticing your mild trembling, Darling motioned for you to get closer and despite the similar trembling of your heart you complied. The warmth shared was twofold, one heat source from your bodies and one from the fire of your nerves (though you weren't sure that one helped much). Eventually you ended up cuddling into his lap, with one of his hands resting on your neck and the other gently playing with the tips of your hair. It really was a nice time when you weren't suffering from a head wound. The fidgeting with your hair stopped after a moment and you glanced up to see that he had already fallen asleep. You were very aware he had been pushing himself particularly hard lately, the main reason you stayed late today was to nag him into some sort of break. The power of a guilt trip to make him actually take care of himself didn't work out too well this time, he was still in the Bureau, but at least he was sleeping which you don't think he had done for a solid day at least. You watched him for a bit, the circles under his eyes were so deep now. You knew whatever he was dealing with was above your clearance but you wished you could help ease his burden, even a little. Eventually his gentle breathing lulled you to sleep as well, saving your worries for a tomorrow you. 

"Hey, wake up. There's a door now." You felt a hand pat you fully on your face, who even wakes someone up like that, and responded with a pain filled groan. Turns out sleeping on concrete does not help with back aches, but in fact makes them Worse. Weird. 

"Thank you Mr. Alarm Clock."  
  
"Hey now, that’s Dr. Alarm Clock. I'm a hard working guy!" You simply laughed in response as you tried to stretch out your knotted back. That wasn't doing anything useful so you gathered your purse and followed Darling out into the new walkway. The building actually had shifted to make the walk shorter to the lobby which was nice, but it could have waited like two minutes last night to do so. Thought you suppose spending a few hours cuddling up for warmth was the best outcome you could have gotten from that. You were glad to finally obtain your coat, still chilled despite the cuddles, and led the way outside into the crisp October air. After walking together for a few minutes in a comfortable silence you parted ways.   
  
"Take care of yourself, nerd. See you at work." You gave him a small nudge and he returned a soft smile.   
  
"No promises!"

You were setting your belongings down in the lab about a week and a half later when Darling came rushing in. You had barely seen him lately and when you did it was a rushed greeting and instructions for the day. To say you were worried was an understatement but you figured he knew what he was doing. The look in his eyes frightened you, his panic flowing into you despite not hearing him say anything yet. He looked so unlike his normal self, down to a half tucked button up and hair looking like a tornado hit it. 

"Oh thank god, I'm so glad you're in already. Here." He firmly pressed a round device in your hands, you briefly looked at it as he continued. "This is an HRA, I don't have time to explain what it is or why you need it. But please, please wear this at all times." You nodded, though still looking at him with concern. He was so tired, and frantic, and scared. And in turn every alarm was ringing in your skull. "If something happens while you are here, go to the closest safe room and stay there. I know that’s protocol already but especially now." 

"Are you okay?" you finally whispered and he gave a small laugh, shaking his head slightly. He made to leave but paused, turning back to you quickly. Ever so gently his hands cupped your face before he pressed a kiss to your lips. That was the last time you saw him in person before the lockdown. A few days later you made your way to his office, worried out of your mind. After distributing the HRAs around the various departments, the only thing that remained of him was a recording that played throughout the research department. That was the only thing of him still in motion in the dark of his office. You weren't sure what you even expected really, why would he be here of all places but you had hoped. You were sat on the ground, leaning against the cool wood of the desk and watching the loop when the Hiss hit. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk dudes, I hope you like this! A warning that the third chapter will take ten years because I am a very slow writer :( ok byeeee


	3. tender is the touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Work is a bummer, attempt to escape away at the fabulous Oceanview Motel!!

Many of the surviving bureau employees have been using the Oceanview Motel as an actual rest area. The Hiss couldn't get in, so it was a chance to take off your HRA and sleep in comfort. (In theory anyway.) There are plenty of your coworkers that are too wary of another unknown building, another possible threat; so they toss and turn in the safe rooms every night and return to work grumpy but with one less thing to worry about. You managed to do this for about a month and a half before giving up on the safe rooms. Honestly you would have gone straight to the motel the first night you knew you could if it wasn't for Darling asking you to stick to those secure and crowded areas.

The option opened up after a while, apparently those with clearance testing out the safety enough times to deem it available to everyone who wanted it. One morning an announcement video similar to Darling's usual fair popped up throughout the departments with Pope and Director Faden telling the staff. While it was nice to see them address everyone as a team, refreshing even given the previous Director and Head of Research dynamics, the pang of grief that hit you after hearing the familiar chime of those videos caused you to instantly lose the message to the white noise of your thoughts.

When the Hiss made contact the Bureau lost employees on many levels. The first being the obvious floating faculty, second the unfortunate members that were lost to corruption, and the third being those who were outside the building when the lockdown hit. The drastic cuts meant everyone had to chip in where they could and you were mostly back to your cafeteria duties, somehow being one of the few left that knew what to even do. So many intelligent people couldn't figure out how to cook a simple meal and you were unsure how they made it this far in life sometimes. Honestly you were a little relieved at this, while everyone was focusing on the big picture of how to fix the situation you got to zoom in on the little details of food. How to make beans exiting for all, teaching people with several doctorates how to dice onions rather than hacking at them (how someone can perfectly dissect an organism but mess up knifework was beyond your comprehension), taking inventory. Just daily worries that took your mind off of the fact that there was an even lower survival rate than usual, with no quick end in sight. There was also the welcome distraction from a certain missing doctor. That you constantly ruined by stopping by his office to check, just in case, because what if one day you weren't there when you needed to be.

After one particularly rough day of delivering files between different research department camps on top of the café duties, you decreed that you quit (a common joke, but one spoken with a bitter tone lately) and set off for the nearest pullcord. The familiar afternoon sunlight filtering thorough the motel did wonders to relax you, almost seeming like you were free to do as you pleased again. The calm atmosphere briefly taming your daily woes as you took a moment each time to watch the dust slowly flit in and out of the rays of light. Sometimes when you came there would be a modest bathroom on the first ring of the bell. You hadn't heard anyone mention this before, but there were very few talks of the motel other than a mumbling explanation of where your coworker was going after a long day. Giving the uneasy feeling of unfamiliarity about 30 seconds to stay in your brain before succumbing to the wonders of hot water. Probably a manifestation of what you need or desired, you assumed after the first time. You thought this especially after hearing about what happened with the director. Sure she was an amazing anomaly of power, but never had you heard of a door opening up on the other side of the hallway. Frankly the thought of what rested in the darkness of the other rooms, just beyond the safety of a thin wooden door, gave you more than enough reason to be on edge when you first started to come to the hotel. At this point though you were accustomed to the shifting possibility of rooms, though one day you did vow to bring the motel a gift for its kindness. One of your spider plants from home you figured would do nicely (though at this point those babies were probably done for), some little token to show you appreciated this possibly sentient building. (Another worrying thought stamped down with the others, like "What if the vending machine is some sort of Fae trap. How could it possibly know I wanted and then create a tin of tangerine altoids sours??")

The previous night you had finished the last of your favorite lotion, sadly tossing the empty bottle in the trashcan before you set to bed. When you woke there on the counter was a fresh bottle waiting for you and if you could hug a dang building you would have right there. Instead you whispered a thank you and fished out your sketchbook, neatly tearing out a page of plant studies. You wrote in the corner "IOU one nice plant" with a small heart scribbled underneath, and swapped the lotion for the page. Today when you arrived you noticed it was taped up and you spent your shower thinking of what plants would even do well in a weird altered hotel. You had a lot of weekly pay just sitting in your bank account, so much plant purchasing ability. Assuming the lockdown would ever lift. The once scalding water was now lukewarm at best and you finally stepped out into the cruel dry world. Drying off you thought that had previous folks tried to study this place nicely maybe they wouldn't have had nervous breakdowns.

At this point of tired, your limbs felt like wet sacks of sand and you were fighting to walk the whole three feet to the counter. To say you were burned out was an understatement, everyone was. Not even being able to look at a funny video of a bird on the internet after work was a bummer. Not the worst bummer of them all, but it was a little treat. Now the little treats are instead trusting that when you pulled on the cord to an alternate dimension of some sort, you would come back to your own in one piece. Miraculously, after having too many thoughts for your liking during your trek, you made it and gently patted the little bell. At the happy ring you turned to head to the second door, beyond ready to sleep, but you saw instead a door on the other side of the hallway had opened slightly. Your heart dropped into the pit of your stomach when seeing this and a cold sweat broke out on the back of your neck as you slowly went to the door. _Foolish_ , was the current main thought. Followed by: _I let my guard down and now I'm going to get eaten by a building._ And yet still you grasped the handle, despite the feeling of dread you were still driven by curiosity. The worst flaw in every Bureau employee, probably. Got a lot of people killed and none of them came back to tell if the satisfaction of knowledge was worth it.

Upon slowly pushing the door open you were hit by a wave of relief. No monsters here! Actually looked just like the other standard rooms, just mirrored. The only difference here was that the warm sunlight peeking through the window fell upon a figure curled up under the blankets on the bed. The soft snoring paired with a gentle rise and fall of the person shaped lump assured you that you didn't find a corpse, which was nice as long as it truly was a person. Almost compelled, you walked around to the other side to see if maybe you stumbled in on a coworker or if this was maybe someone from the other set of doors. You briefly thought you should have just backed right on out and left, the intrusion being both rude and dumb, or just not even trekked into this anomaly to begin with. _Too late now! :)_ You nodded at the ever helpful words of your brain and looked down at the maybe stranger maybe monster.

When you realized it was him in the still quiet of the room, the sound of blood rushing through your veins was nearly deafening. If you had taken a moment to look at the nightstand before jumping headfirst into finding out who was in this room, you would have ruined the surprise by seeing his distinct glasses folded neatly. It was silly really, to see someone and be so overcome, but you didn't have time to process that. In one moment you dipped your knee into the bed and your hand hovered over his face, stopping short before you connected. Mostly as you remembered him; though the dark circles under his eyes seemed to be gone and his hair was longer, delicately spread on the pillow. He looked so peaceful, so fragile, that you were afraid that once you dared touch your fingertips to his cheek that this would all collapse. During your mild crisis of trying to determine what to do, his eyes fluttered open and he woke with a start, slamming his head into your hand. More violent then you would have hoped, but he was still there! and despite the fear and confusion on his face you roughly pulled him into a hug. Your fingertips tugged into the soft skin of his back, and through them you could feel the hammering of his heart slow at your touch. His erratic breathing eventually evening out into a calmer rhythm.

"Hey, don't you know smacking someone in the face is a bad way to wake them up?" He rasped out, it seemed like he hadn't used his voice in ages somehow. You leaned back to look at him and responded with a short bark of laughter, mind flashing back to one of the last times you saw him.

"It wasn't on purpose I promise." Your expression heavy as you brought your hand to his face again, just making sure he really was there. As soon as your palm met his jawline he let out a soft sigh and placed his hand over yours. "Where the fuck did you go? How are you at the Oceanview of all places?" A pause as you glanced briefly at his final outfit in your familiar dimension was revealed when the sheet fell to the side in the earlier commotion: a pair of boxers. "Where are your pants, man."

"Uhh," he shifted to look down for a second, "Somewhere in a locked section of the Bureau? As for everything else I am not sure, very foggy, I think maybe I went into another plane of existence possibly. Which is truly exciting but I am very exhausted so I'm just going to go with pbbbth." He shrugged along with the little raspberry noise, a tired smile gracing his face afterwards. 

"You've clearly been through a lot so I'm not going to press you on your missing pants." _this nerd is jacked_ "Or the new hairstyle, though it is very nice. I'm just so glad to see you. The lockdown has been rough enough with the Hiss but you just stopped existing and my stupid ass couldn't stop worrying. Especially with the way you left." Your hands had fallen together to rest on the bed, fingers loosely entwined.

"Yeah I have a vague idea of what happened and I probably could have gone about a better way of warning everyone. I could have done a lot of things better. A lot of problems are solved by communication, it turns out!" He grimaced, "Emily is defiantly going to hit me when I get back."  
  
"Oh for sure. Jesse too. Lord willin' you'll survive that."

He nodded slowly and you both fell silent. You turned your head to look out the window, though nothing more than vague shapes appeared outside the glass, the warm rays of the sun shifting as it set and illuminating your figures in a golden hue. Darling let out a soft sigh as he took your hand fully in his own and began to lightly trace the lines with his fingertips. Your gaze shifted to watch as each movement sent a jolt of electricity through the nerves, swallowing hard as he then raised your palm to his lips and tenderly pressed a kiss to it.

"I'm sorry for a lot of things," he breathed out as he lowered your hand, "I've always took a results first emotions never approach to science and that’s fine and dandy when its in regards to a plastic flamingo that can do funky things but not so much with people. I've hurt countless people that way, some more than others. Some I can never begin to repair the damage, others I never can get the chance because they're dead due to my negligence. Probably a lot in that category now. Too many. I want to be better than that, to not be a coward. God, I want so badly to actually care about something and not have fear hold me back. I care about you."

"Oh." That little confession short circuited your exhausted brain past the point of words, but you pressed on. "I really don't know what to say in regards to the possible ethical crimes you're talking about so I'm choosing to address that another time because I currently do not have the mental wellbeing to deal with that. As for the other thing: I do to, for a while now actually. I thought it'd be inappropriate or also that I was imagining things, but I was still overjoyed to be a friend. I just wanted to be there for you. Man this is real cool." You nearly cut yourself off with a large yawn.

"It sure is!" He chuckled and cupped your jaw before continuing, "I think you may be even more tired than I am. How about we continue the heart to heart later?"

"Oh thank god yes, I'm very excited but words hard." At your words he leaned forward to deliver a soft kiss, lingering for a moment before almost reluctantly parting. Honestly if this was a hallucination of your dying brain after getting consumed by a scary building, you were gonna be super mad but not shocked. In case this truly was reality you would give your all, your heart in its entirety, to this moment and to him.

His head laid heavy on your chest, arm tightly clinging to your side almost afraid to lose contact. The beating of your heart was swiftly lulling Darling to sleep and you felt yourself following behind. Your left hand was loosely wrapped around the back of his neck, fingertips lightly swirling along the spine. For once all was well, the worries of tomorrow sealed away for later.

Not that they were at all gone, in fact you could list them! One of those worries sealed away was pants based, the good doctor is just going to have to do a little living nightmare and walk to his office in those not very modest shorts. At least if people are distracted by that there is less time to worry about the logistics of where he went and how he came back. You knew he had clothing stashed away in a desk due to snooping around for the liquor he squirreled away (a failed attempt to dull those pesky emotions). Also you may have possibly found that booze and fell asleep under his desk with a sweater as a pillow like a freak, but if it is ever brought up you will deny fiercely being that weepy. Another worry was that he wouldn't be able to leave this place. Whos to say that when you pull the cord he wont just get left behind, or lost in the space between. Lastly, you worried that maybe you passed out in the shower, this was all just a dream, and eventually you would wake cold and alone. The cold fear that nipped in the back of your mind wouldn't let you completely ignore those two thoughts.

When waking in the morning your half-asleep brain was Very Confused about the warm presence currently cocooning itself around you like a large koala. Turning slightly to see Casper still sleeping blissfully, drooling slightly on your back, brought a new wave of relief (shortly followed by disgust at the drool situation). If you could stay like this any longer, you would, but unfortunately the last time you slacked on prepping lunch service someone made a casserole surprise that certainly was a surprise for everyone's digestive systems: so you turned fully around to softly pat at Darling's face.   


"Mmmup…I'm up. Okay."

"Good, I need to towel off the lake of saliva you left on me."

"Oh? I can add more, hold on." Shrieking you wiggled out of his grasp as he attempted to lick the side of your face.

  
"Terrible. Bad doctor."

"That’s what they tell me!"

You both slowly got ready to leave, reluctant to break the carefree haze created from your reunion. Luckily it happened to be relatively early in the morning when you returned with Darling in tow. Borrowing your labcoat saved him from a completely awkward walk to his office, the few coworkers passed by too sleep deprived to really notice. You were sure once word got around the day would be less than relaxing, but that was a problem for later. When you reached the office he shut the door as you made a beeline for the desk drawer you knew his backup clothes were in. You moved to hand him a folded pile and felt your face burn as he looked upon your exact knowledge of his desk contents with curiosity.

"I may or may not owe you some replacement whisky." He chuckled as he took the pile from your hands, promptly getting dressed as you watched on with no shame. Somehow, he seemed to look even better as he donned his old garb. Maybe the genuinely happy aura coming off him, you pondered as you focused the way his hair fell forward when he leaned down to gather his shoes. With a soft grunt he stood back up fully, running his hand through his mussed hair.

"Oh no!" you exclaimed in almost a whine. When he swiveled his confused face towards your sounds of distress, you grasped either side of his head in your hands. "You're so handsome!!"  
  


"Gross. Lets go do some science." He beamed at you, melting that stupid little heart yet again.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there, this took forever because work is indeed a bummer. I hope it was worth the wait, lmao. If you leave a comment or like this know that I love u
> 
> heres a spotify playlist for this series: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2XbW11qRqBkA9wSyHRjXBH


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